Spraying rack for passage doors

[Sam Layton]

Hi Peter,

The rack worked out great. I do need to devise a system to lock it in place. I like your rotating sleeve idea. I need to figure out something. For me, having the door horizonal made it very easy to spray without worrying about runs. As for the edges, I hit them first, while the door is horizonal, then spray the door. I let it set long enough to set up, flip, spray the edges again, then the top. That way the edges get sprayed twice. No problems with runs.

For this door I used General Finishes oil base stain. I let that dry a few days, and then finished with General Finishes, Exterior 450, it is water base. That is the first time I used the Exterior 450. I sprayed the door, and brushed the jamb. The finish turned out great. There are no brush marks on the jamb. It looks like it was sprayed. I have had good luck with other General finishes as well.

[julian abram]

Sam, your door looks great. Was wondering what materials you used for constructing the door? I have double steel doors for our entry that were installed during construction 20 years ago. I've never built an entry or passage door but hope to get up the courage someday to build a couple nice wood & glass panel doors.

[Sam Layton]

Julian, my door is red oak, the panel is riff sawn red oak. The door is 2 1/4" thick. The stiles and rails are laminated with three boards each, and the panel consists of two floating panels placed back to back. The lamination makes it very stable. The door is constructed with loose tenons. I am having a stained Glass made for the window. I should be finished toward the end of next week. The glass place is taking forever making the glass, about 2 months now. We are also having a pantry door glass made, and I will build the door for that. I will post photo's of the completed door and jamb when I install the glass.

Don't be afraid to give it a try. This is the second door I have built, and I really enjoy it. I am going to be building the remaining doors in my house.

[julian abram]

Sam, thanks for the great info on materials and the construction process. Previously I've thought I would need to purchase some exotic weather resistant lumber for constructing new doors but red oak is readily available here and think it would work fine for my application. My doors face north and are set back under an 8' porch so they never see direct sunlight or rain. I've got a few projects on my short list but may give this a try in a few months. Again thanks!

[Larry Edgerton]

Julian, white oak would be a better choice fo an exterior door. Not that there is anything wrong with Red Oak, but white oak weathers better. Should be lots of white oak in your area as well. About the same price. I have made a lot of doors out of it, and no callbacks, finish holds up well.

Larry

[Sam Layton]

You are welcome Julian. For your area, and weather conditions, I agree with Larry. I think white oak would be a better choice. I like red oak, and California weather is mild, so red oak is fine. My door is like yours under a porch, and never sees sunlight or rain. Make sure you use riff, or quarter sawn white oak. I think riff sawn looks the best, and both riff and quarter will be more stable than flat sawn. I have only built two doors, but if you have any questions please ask.

Sam

[julian abram]

Yes, white oak is easy for me to get. We are covered in White Oak trees here in the Ozarks, makes for inexpensive lumber. Rough sawn can be purchased for $1.00-1.50 bd ft. It will cost a little more to get rift or qs custom sawn. Again, thanks for the good info, a couple new entry doors are on the "to do" list.